Chapter 41: The overlooked solution

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Jongin woke up in the most pleasant mood for he was to see Taemin that afternoon, along with all of their friends. And everything in the forest always seemed even more beautiful to him when he thought of his elf, when he knew they would be reunited soon; the song of the birds chirping nearby sounded softer to his ears, the sunlight seemed to shine brighter, everything was even more delightful than usual.

They would celebrate Jongin and Taemin's union; the whole little fellowship that they formed – a gathering of elves, fairies, and nymphs all tied together in the most peculiar ways by friendship, tenderness, and love.

If Jongin hadn't thought that it was of any particular importance to celebrate the deep bond he shared with Taemin, he had however offered no resistance to Kyungsoo and Kibum's wish of organizing a meeting to eat, drink, sing, talk, and rejoice together.

That morning, he bathed in Kibum's pond with the water nymph for quite a long time and followed his friend's instructions to pay close attention to his nails and rid them of any lingering dirt, then he allowed him to wash his face with an elven cloth to make sure he was clean as a whistle. Jongin didn't know what a whistle was, but Kibum had answered that it was an Elvish expression he once heard, and a whistle was something immaculate, obviously, and Jongin ought to be just like one so Taemin would find him exceptionally pretty – and Jongin always wanted Taemin to find him pretty. Of course, the elven cloth and the clear water of Kibum's pond didn't do much more than clean Jongin's perfect face of some very light dust but the two spirits pretended that it made a tremendous change in favor of the wooden nymph.

After that, Jongin sat on the pond's bank and, while softly humming a little song to the nature surrounding him, he tried to conjure the prettiest flowers he could think of to adorn his hair. The beautiful elven mirror that Kibum had received from his good friend Minho proved to be very useful that day. Jongin stared at his reflection pensively as he made flowers bloom like a crown in his blond hair, changing their colors and arrangement until they all fell perfectly. A pretty string of white magnolia flowers, strewed with red and orange crocosmias, blossomed all over his head. Once he was satisfied with how he looked, he helped Kibum comb his hair as well and blessed his friend with a crown of big, white lotus and purple balloon flowers.

And off they went, leaving their clearing to gambol through the forest to the place Kyungsoo had prayed them to come to. It had been decided that they would all meet not far from the valley of stones, a little further down the maple trees hollow. Kyungsoo had been working for hours to decorate the little corner of the forest in the shade of the green trees and, naturally, Chanyeol had come to help.

When the nymphs arrived in the small nook protected so heavily by fairy magic that a soft mist of sparkles was floating around – Kyungsoo was concerned that they might attract too much unwanted attention even though the forest would do its best to conceal Kibum, Jongin, and even Chanyeol from view – they couldn't help but gasp happily. Branches and logs had been put together to form a small table and little seats for everyone. Minseok, through Jongdae, had gently lent in advance one of his most beautiful tablecloths, a white fabric embroidered with delicate flowers, and myriads of golden dishes and platters were waiting on the covered table, overflowing with pastries and food of the most delightful smells. A harp, a pan flute, a janggu, and a haegeum, that all undoubtedly belonged to Chanyeol, were laying in the grass, against a tree. And, fluttering around, Kyungsoo, Jinki, and Junmyeon were excitedly talking as they threw little spells in the air that crackled and exploded quietly into colorful twinkles.

"They arrived!" came Chanyeol's voice as he noticed the two nymphs who reared their heads into the enchanting area.

The three fairies immediately fell quiet and turned around with wide eyes before they dived to the spirits cheerfully in a concert of loving greetings. It had been quite complicated to convince Junmyeon to leave Sehun's side for one afternoon but the fairy had surrendered when three older nymphs had promised to come to play with him; only the assurance that his protégé wouldn't be left alone could push Junmyeon out of the old ruins. That, and the promise that Minho would join them.

"Jonginnie," Kyungsoo asked gently, "would you give us some flowers?"

With a bright grin and shiny eyes, Jongin looked over the area one more time, taking in the sight of everything that had already been prepared, then he closed his eyes and breathed deeply. The grass twirled and twisted as a hundred new blossoms suddenly sprouted between the green leaves and burst in a whirlwind of white, yellow, pink, blue, and red.

It was then that the elves arrived. First came Jonghyun, riding Tahca, his majestic deer. He was wearing tight, white pants and a tunic of that pale blue-green Kibum had told him was his color. Jonghyun had asked for a few outfits of this specific shade the day following Kibum's confession, too happy to be able to keep his beloved nymph close to him in some way that would remain secret to anyone but them and other spirits. Kibum's eyes brightened from afar at the sight of the pretty fabric embroidered with white flowers.

Then, came Minho riding a white horse. His long hair was skillfully braided in a complicated hairstyle that beautifully bared his face. He wore a purple robe, tied around his waist with a large silk belt. And as soon as he appeared, a tiny fairy crashed against his chest with a sob and held out his minuscule arms as far as he could, as if he was trying his very best to hug the elf. Minho looked down on him with a grin.

"Hi there, Myeon."

After Minho, came Minseok. He tried to stand as tall as he could on his horse but he still looked weighed down by shyness and embarrassment. Jongdae, who was perched on his right shoulder, strutting despite being seated, had gone out of his way to convince Minseok to accompany him to the important gathering of his friends and had fought down the elf's faint mumbles that he didn't belong, that he didn't know half of the beings who would be there, and that, worse of all, he couldn't impose his presence to holy spirits. Jongdae's infamous obstinacy had proved useful.

Minseok was only but a humble gardener in the castle, and he didn't own any outfit fancy enough to wear in front of nymphs and fauns. Thus he had had to dive deep into his wardrobe and find back old, forgotten outfits that he used to wear when he belonged to the Prince's court, when he followed Jonghyun around all day, in their glorious youth. The deep green tunic still fitted him and the faint, apparent wear didn't tarnish its beauty; the golden embroideries were as pretty and delicate as the day Jonghyun had offered Minseok the outfit.

And at the end of the procession, came Taemin, riding his wolf Chinua. A large grin bloomed on his face as soon as he saw his beloved nymph and recognized the flowers crowning his head.

Jongin ran to him, uncaring of all the others, and stood next to the wolf, looking up to Taemin with shining eyes.

"White and red? It seems we match," Taemin laughed softly.

"We do," Jongin said fondly.

Taemin came down his mount and adjusted his pearly white robe before he brought his hand to the nymph's head and a red crocosmia, almost the same shade as the intricate patterns sewed into the hems around his wrists and the collar of his garment.

Jongin caught hold of his fingers and brought them to his lips to kiss Taemin's hand softly.

"I missed you, my Sefa," he whispered.

Taemin sighed and abruptly cupped Jongin's face to press an urgent kiss on his lips. They heard a few chuckles behind them but didn't pay them enough attention to part.

As he put his feet to the ground, Minseok glanced at the couple and gasped softly. He had been told about the situation a few moons ago, but he hadn't truly come around to understand all of its implications. He had woken up that morning not even knowing what a nymph truly looked like, for he had only ever seen Jongin as a magnolia tree. But at that moment, while he should probably have felt blessed, overjoyed with the view of holy spirits showing themselves to him willingly, all he could feel was melancholy. His face softened painfully.

"How sad..." he sighed.

Jongdae, who had just flown away from his shoulder to guide him toward his friends, turned to him, a little confused. He followed Minseok's eyes and glanced at Taemin and Jongin, still kissing not far from them.

"Sad?" he repeated, quite taken aback.

Minseok hummed.

"That they can't truly be together."

Jongdae's eyes glazed over slightly. He let out a soft noise of agreement but soon shook his head and gave Minseok a little smile.

"You soft soul," he said in what he wished would have been a gentle teasing but sounded far too fond. "Come, I'll introduce you to everyone."

It took quite a while to make everyone known amongst the waves of laughter, tiny screams, and pompous reverences. Jongdae was flying between all of his friends as the only one who felt perfectly comfortable with the whole gathering, and he kept snickering and sighing dramatically that it was all so weird and that he couldn't believe that Minho had never met Chanyeol. At some point, quite a little bit exasperated with the fairy's manners, Kyungsoo tried to choke him with a large bite of cake to get some peace.

The fact that Minseok laughed of his misfortune led Jongdae to sit on the elf's shoulder and sulk while everyone else was getting a cup of tea and getting properly seated.

Jonghyun sat next to Minseok, and Kibum hurried to take the seat next to him, going to the extent of moving his log around to get closer to his prince, and Jongin sat on his other side, followed by Taemin, then Minho. Then, taking pity on Chanyeol who looked extremely embarrassed to find that the last seat big enough for him was right between Minho and Minseok – whom he both didn't know – Jongin pushed everyone around so the faun could sit next to him instead. By the time all butts were resting, Jinki had already landed on the table and was getting busy eating as much as he could.

It wasn't as loud as Jongin had feared it might be. They all navigated timidly between three languages – the fairies making sure that each of them always understood what was being said – and even Chanyeol, the shyest being after Jongin, still felt safe and brave enough to engage softly with Minho when the hybrid asked him, in Faerish, if he was authorized to talk to him. Far too happy to see someone interested in his person, Chanyeol happily nodded, and Minho asked him about the instruments the faun had brought, wondering if he had made them all himself.

Minseok was quieter and still trying to acknowledge where he was and with whom. He felt so tiny, witnessing the conversations of his Prince courting a nymph, of his fairy scraping with his kin, of a faun, the creature with such an eerie appearance, brightening up as he raved about music.

They ate and shared some news, developments that Junmyeon didn't know about, adventures that had happened in the castle, dreams that the nymph had seen, and at some point, Minseok got enrolled in spilling stories about Jonghyun's childhood, that Minho hastened to translate to the spirits.

"Even when he was over 10 years old, his first response to anything slightly bothering him was to fall to the ground dramatically," Minseok chuckled under Jonghyun's groans, "he wouldn't move until we fixed whatever had made him upset. It sounds cute now but back then, I kept thinking he was a little pest."

"I remember that," Minho chirped.

Jonghyun grumbled, his cheeks getting redder with each of Minseok's memories – no matter how much Kibum clung to him, whispering that it was all very adorable.

"But," Minseok mercifully added with a tender smile to the prince, "What I remember the most is having to search for him for hours on end, only to find him asleep amongst the flowers in the gardens."

At that, Jongin straightened up and gave Jonghyun a kind glance, as if he could deeply relate to him, as if he respected the elf even more after learning he liked to nap in fresh blossoms.

"It is too sad," Jonghyun snorted, "that there is no one to give us embarrassing stories about Taemin. This is a celebration in his honor, not mine."

Taemin immediately perked up from his slouched position of resting against Jongin and blinked quickly.

"There isn't any embarrassing story anyway. I was an exemplary child! Always very polite and cute."

Jongin pinched his ribs under the fits of laughter of their friends.

"I don't believe you one bit."

"I still won't say anything more," Taemin smirked.

After they all got more comfortable with one another and already downed more than half of their banquet, Kibum proposed that they danced and sang together. Chanyeol shared his instruments joyfully so they could take turns to play elven or faerish songs; the faun never had any trouble following the notes after a few seconds of listening to any melody foreign to him for he was, after all, a spirit of music. He also played alone at some point, drawing the softest sounds from his harp to gift Taemin and Jongin a composition of his own; a song almost hypnotic with delicateness.

They waltzed to slow melodies and loving lyrics, laughed and clapped to folk refrains, and taught each other dances of their people. And when Jongin, in the heat of the moment, almost delirious with the happiness of dancing, grabbed Minseok's arm as they changed partners and lead him into a spin with a bright grin on his face, Kyungsoo gasped loudly and forgot about the lines he was supposed to sing. Jinki covered for him effortlessly and the song went on, more and more flowers blooming all over the area and on Jongin's head.

They eventually tired down one by one and sat back talking about Elven festivities, about meeting again to dance some more as long as the weather would allow it, and it was Minseok who, innocently and without malice, broke the little bubble of happiness they were all bathing in. Kibum had whispered about wanting to join an elven celebration more than ever since he had just learned how to dance their most popular songs and dance steps.

"You should come to the wedding," Minseok said, grinning. "There will be a wonderful ball. I'm already preparing all the decorations. There will be flowers everywhere, Jongin will love it."

He turned to the wooden nymph and froze when he noticed the veil of sadness that had fallen over Jongin's eyes. Minseok's heart missed a few beats when he witnessed, right before his eyes, a couple of flowers in his hair wither in an instant. Then, the realization of what he had just uttered crushed his lungs. A deep red immediately flushed his cheeks and he swallowed hard, turning to Minho, with wide, ashamed eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered sheepishly. "I didn't-"

A hand laid on his forearm and he lowered his eyes to recognize Jonghyun's gentle, soothing touch. The silence that had suddenly washed over them was deafening, and Minseok wished that the ground could open under his feet, that the forest could swallow him whole as penitence for upsetting nymphs and free him from this abominable situation. His distress was so great that even Jonghyun's calming magic took time to ease the frenetic beats of his heart.

"It is okay," Kibum said in the soft voice he always had when he tried to speak Elvish.

The water nymph bit his lips, looked around, then leaned toward Chanyeol, and more precisely Kyungsoo, to whisper something in the fairy's ear and ask him about Elvish words. When he straightened up, he offered a gentle, albeit pained, smile to Minseok.

"It is not your fault," he added.

Jongin remained silent, turning on his seat to hug Taemin's side and hide his face in his neck. Taemin cleared his throat and glanced at Minseok with gentle eyes.

"It's alright, don't worry about it."

The comforting words did little to appease the heavy feelings in the air and Minseok sunk on his seat, too embarrassed to look at anyone.

"We'll have other occasions to invite you in Melalhil if you wish so," Jonghyun finally said to the two nymphs with a smile as honest as he could muster. "And in the meantime, we'll have celebrations of our own."

Junmyeon softly mentioned the Autumn Equinox and Kyungsoo immediately began to talk about all the great food that was usually served for the occasion in the hope to ease Jongin's mind – which lead Jinki to pat Chanyeol's leg gravely as he promised him that he would do everything he could to bring the best of elven food to him and Kyungsoo since the faun had previously admitted he never tasted cream puffs.

But before all the dark clouds could completely clear from their small clearing, Jongdae coughed. He was sitting on Minseok's folded hands, over the elf's lap, and he seemed quite bothered.

"Excuse me, may I ask something?"

And it was such a surprise to hear Jongdae be so polite – and so eloquent in Elvish – that all little whispers quieted down, and even Jongin turned his head against Taemin's shoulder to look at him.

"Of course," Jonghyun said.

Jongdae crossed his arms over his chest and huffed loudly.

"Far be this from me to dampen a mood but there is a thing I don't understand with the wedding," the fairy said and, despite the lingering awkwardness, Minho couldn't help but smile as he heard Jongdae trying to talk smartly, with elaborate expressions, but still in his slightly broken Elvish.

"Jongdae..." Junmyeon frustratedly hissed.

The two nymphs sighed, and with their exhale, it seemed that their aura lowered, that they flickered from view and, between them, Chanyeol cowered on himself, wondering what he ought to do. Kyungsoo was uncomfortably translating, as quietly as he could so he wouldn't pain the nymphs even more.

Taemin raised his hand kindly toward Junmyeon but looked at Jongdae.

"What's troubling you?"

And Jongdae seemed comforted, a little relieved that Taemin let him speak, that he understood he wouldn't ask if it wasn't important.

"Lord Baekhyun told me to ask questions," the fairy said quietly. "So I asked. I asked many questions, very often. And I am trying to understand. The reason why you marry, Jonghyun and Taemin... it is because of the alliances, is it right?"

He looked up at each elf with a little frown.

"Yes, it is," Jonghyun answered while Kyungsoo did his best to translate a little louder, in Faerish, for the three spirits. "It's an old elven practice. It's a way to bond our kingdoms and to ensure loyalty if a war were to happen, for example."

Jongin and Kibum gasped softly in understanding. It suddenly occurred to everyone around that nobody had taken the time to explain properly to the nymphs what the marriage was all about. They had lived their whole lives far away from concerns such as wars, alliances, and arranged marriages.

Jonghyun turned his head toward Kibum and found him lost in thoughts, gaze unfocused.

"But then," Jongdae groaned, "if it is just that alliance... why can't you have a three alliance with the nymphs?"

Taemin widened his eyes with a soft gasp. Both Junmyeon and Kyungsoo nearly jolted on their butts. Everyone showed such surprise at Jongdae's impromptu solution that no one paid attention to the way Jonghyun closed his eyes with a little sigh.

"I mean," Jongdae kept going, spurred on by their reactions. "Nymphs are already very loved by the forest elves so much that I think... if a nymph, let's say Jongin, marry a foreign elf, let's say Taemin, wouldn't that make the forest elves want to have an alliance with Taemin's family? And so, if Jonghyun and Kibum marry, it will make the duty of forest elves to protect the nymphs more strong, then... then that would be the best possible alliance, right? It is almost-... I mean, nymphs are very powerful deity, so, no offense to the elves, but is it not an even better alliance? Even more powerful?"

Jongin kept looking from Jongdae, who spoke a little too fast for him to follow, to Kyungsoo, who did his best to translate everything.

"Do you understand what I think?" Jongdae asked.

"Yes," Minho said kindly. "You expressed yourself very well."

Jongdae had a proud little smile before he glanced at the two couples, waiting for their reactions and thoughts.

Jongin's lips were wobbling as he searched Taemin's eyes and clung to his arm with trembling hands.

"Is it possible?" he murmured. "Is it, Taemin?"

Taemin looked at him as if he saw him for the first time, wide eyes shining with all the possibilities suddenly appearing before them. He saw his nymph's pleading eyes, the soft glow of his skin radiating almost shyly as the spirit tried to contain his hope.

"I uh-..." Taemin stammered, "I never thought... about that..."

"Could we marry one another? Could you be all mine?" Jongin pressed him, his ravishing cheeks reddening with the mere thought of getting what he wanted the most.

And not far from him, Kibum seemed to awaken at those words piercing the complete confusion he had fallen into.

Taemin let out a breathless, nervous chuckle.

"I think we could," he murmured with a bright grin.

Kibum immediately turned to Jonghyun, his dark eyes brightening so fast that they all startled at the sight.

"Jeongyun..."

But before he could voice any question, any little dream for their future, Jonghyun opened his eyes to look at him with such pain that Kibum closed his mouth. His gaze darkened like a candle being blown out before he even got any explanation.

"We can't," Jonghyun said, loud enough for two lovebirds not far from them to hear.

His voice was so solemn that Jongdae caved in Minseok's hands. The previous joy of bringing a solution to the unbearable situation at hand vanished into thin air and he immediately cursed himself for opening his damn mouth in the first place. Jonghyun's tone sounded implacable.

Taemin blinked, scowled, and stared at him.

"What?"

"Taemin, you know we can't."

"What do you mean? That's a brilliant idea Jongdae came to..."

"I thought about it months ago," Jonghyun said, always so unyielding; and Jongdae winced. "We can't do it."

Taemin huffed and, next to him, Jongin withdrew slightly. He had never seen Taemin so miffed and he wasn't sure how to react. All of their friends had fallen into a deep silence, nobody even dared to move as the two princes stared each other down.

"You thought about it and didn't discuss it with me?" Taemin bitterly asked.

"I searched for any possible way to get out of this marriage and believe me, if I had found a plan that could work, I would have told you."

"But why can't this one work? I barely heard about it and-..."

"It's too risky," Jonghyun interrupted him with a low voice.

Taemin closed his mouth and nodded sharply. He bit his lip with frustration before he glared at Jonghyun.

"So, it's that conversation all over again, right? It's just you, thinking in your corner and making decisions for the both of us."

"Yes. It's the same problems we already discussed. With the same consequences, we both wanted to avoid. As I said, it's too risky."

"Oh no, it's not the same and you know it," Taemin hissed. "This could work."

Kyungsoo didn't dare to translate what was happening, and Chanyeol was grateful not to understand what was happening. It seemed the two elves had almost forgotten where they were, surrounded by friends, too busy staring each other down with distress.

Jongdae felt like crying. Oh, how he wished he hadn't said anything at all. He had had all the best intentions, he had thought that he could bring a new perspective, that together, with all of their minds thinking it through, they could work it out, that Junmyeon would be able to find the flaws in his plan, he had thought that it was best to speak about it with the two couples present so they could refine a strategy together. He hadn't expected the storm that had shattered their nice afternoon.

"And if your mother doesn't agree-..." Jonghyun raised his voice.

"Yes, my mother. Your parents would obviously agree so it would come down to the reaction of my family, whom you know nothing about. So why bother talking it out with me?" Taemin sighed exasperatedly.

"I'm trying to protect you. I'm not the one who would lose the love of his life."

Jongin shuddered with horror and Taemin immediately turned to him with apologetic eyes.

"Lose me? Why would you lose me?"

"I won't," Taemin whispered as he took Jongin's hands. "I promise, Love."

"I didn't understand everything," Jongin murmured. "But... I can't marry you in the end...?"

Taemin closed his eyes and pressed a soft kiss on Jongin's knuckles before he glanced at Jonghyun. His friend looked guilty, sitting across from him, but he was still frowning.

"I just want a chance to think about it. I just want to look into it. I want us to search for a solution together because this-... it could work."

"Are you ready to bet Jongin on it?" Jonghyun tiredly asked.

"No. Of course not. Not yet while the plan is only but an idea barely spoken aloud. This is precisely why I want time to analyze and consider it before we discuss it. You might be very thoughtful and considerate, but maybe I can still add some insight to your thoughts. My ideas count too. That's what we already talked about. I just want you to let me think and speak. I want you to listen to me."

They remained silent for a moment. Then, when Jonghyun couldn't hold Taemin's gaze anymore, his eyes fell on his lap as a thousand thoughts were circling in his mind. He heard the soft breathings and little sniffs of their friends all around them and a pang of terrible guilt hit him. What had he been thinking, making a spectacle of himself in front of them all? What must they all be thinking of him?

Even worse. Was he truly so wrapped around himself, discarding Taemin's feelings and thoughts? How could it have come to this when his intentions always were so good?

A small, pale hand sneaked in on his lap to grab his. Kibum squeezed his fingers gently and Jonghyun laboriously looked up to him, eyes blinking quickly with shame. The nymph was looking at him, gaze filled with tenderness. There was no pain, no anger, no reproach in those pretty grey eyes.

Kibum smiled at him. Jonghyun saw his lips move but no word that he could hear came out of them, still, the weight on his lungs lessened and he could breathe more easily.

"Calm down, my love," Kibum said. "Calm down. I'm here with you. You're safe."

Jonghyun's shoulders relaxed but he couldn't quite leave Kibum's eyes yet.

"Everything is alright," Kibum murmured in the small space between them.

His voice was so serene that Jonghyun believed him.

"I'm sorry," Jonghyun answered.

Kibum smiled at him and Jonghyun found the courage to look back to Taemin, who was studying him curiously.

"We'll talk," Jonghyun agreed quietly. There was still a shadow darkening his face and furrowing his eyebrows. "We shall talk."

"Tomorrow?" Taemin inquired softly.

"Tomorrow."

"Thank you."

Jonghyun threw a timid glance around and saw their friends giving him shy, embarrassed smiles. Jongdae nervously squirmed on Minseok's lap and Minho cleared his throat, searching for something to say to alleviate the thick atmosphere between them. It was then that Jinki began singing. Out of the blue, with a clear, soft voice. And he looked around gently to every one of his friends, inviting them to join, to leave those heavy feelings behind, and to remember that it was a day of celebrations.

"When the cold wind is a'calling... And the sky is clear and bright... Misty mountains sing and beckon... Lead me out into the light..."

It was a popular Elvish song. Minho immediately joined him. Then Junmyeon. Chanyeol was quick to pick up his pan flute to accompany them.

"I will ride, I will fly... Chase the wind and touch the sky... I will fly... Chase the wind and touch the sky..."

Kyungsoo began singing too. Kibum giggled and when Jongin straightened up to clap his hands in rhythm, even Minseok and Jongdae sang.

"Where dark woods hide secret... And mountains are fierce and bold... Deep waters hold reflections... Of times lost long ago..."

Taemin and Jonghyun looked at each other, slightly confused by the sudden, bright voices raising in the clearing. Taemin grinned, and Jonghyun followed the troupe.

"I will ride, I will fly... Chase the wind and touch the sky... I will fly... Chase the wind and touch the sky..."

~

They parted when the sun was low in the sky, spreading a pink light over the maple trees and coloring the sky of the prettiest shades. No goodbye that evening was as heartbreaking as the moment Junmyeon left Minho's side to go back to the ruins where a young nymph was gently waiting for him, hoping to hear about all the adventures his little fairy had gone through during their afternoon away from each other.

Taemin went away to change his clothes, putting on a linen shirt and cotton pants, and let Kibum wear his outfit of the day so he could secretly go back to the castle in his stead, as they had planned. His white robe was a little too long on the nymph's petite body but Jonghyun kept reassuring him that nobody would notice, nobody would look under the hood of Taemin's cloak, and they could quietly reach his bedroom to spend the night together before Taemin and Kibum would switch back their places in the morning.

The water nymph was slightly disoriented when he was put on Chinua's back, not knowing what to do when he didn't have Jonghyun's strong figure to lean against, but the kind wolf appeased him by telling him he had nothing to worry about. She knew her way home.

"Don't pull on my fur, that's all."

And Kibum hastened to promised to be careful.

The walk back to Melalhil was quite quiet, most of the conversation happening between Minho and Kibum, but when they arrived in the stables, Jonghyun was quick to ask all the equerries to leave them. He then walked to Minseok and called him gently as his friend was wordlessly unfastening his horse's saddle.

Minseok closed his eyes with a sigh before he turned around to face his prince.

"I am so sorry, your Majesty," he whispered.

"Don't," Jonghyun answered with a small pout. "Don't call me that. And don't apologize. I'm glad you joined us today."

Minseok opened his mouth to say something but before he could utter a single word, Kibum's hooded face appeared above Jonghyun's shoulder. The water nymph was smiling.

"It is-... it was nice to meet Minseo'."

Minseok let out a nervous chuckle.

"It was an honor meeting you," he answered with a respectful bow that pleased Kibum very much.

"Where is Jongdae?" Jonghyun asked as he looked at Minseok's shoulders.

A tiny cough was heard and the fairy appeared from one of Minseok's pockets, his tiny head barely getting out of the hem as he looked sheepishly at all the tall beings surrounding him.

"Here," he mumbled pitifully.

"Come out," Jonghyun asked him gently.

The fairy sighed dramatically but left his little cocoon to fly higher, near the prince's eyes level. He looked dejected, his wings batting slowly behind his small frame, eyes downcast.

"Have I ever told you how grateful I am that you're staying with us in the castle?" Jonghyun asked.

Jongdae frowned as he finally met his gaze. He pouted softly.

"Yes. You do so quite often."

"Good," Jonghyun smiled. "I wanted to make sure you didn't forget it."

Jongdae raised one of his eyebrows, looking the elf up and down as if he was concerned for his well-being. It only caused Jonghyun to smile wider.

"I am very glad to know you, Jongdae of Hazelbarrow. You're quite a character, aren't you? I'm happy to be your friend."

"Your Majesty..." Jongdae whined. "Why are you like this?"

"Don't blame yourself for what happened," Jonghyun said and he saw the fairy flinch. "No matter how hard it was for me to hear-... I-... Well, I just-..."

He let out a nervous chuckle and the fairy gave him a small smile.

"Elvish is complicated, isn't it? Talking is very hard sometimes."

"Yes, it can be. I have many things to contemplate but I do not blame nor resent you for what you said and what you made us consider. I can confidently say that nobody amongst our friends does. So please, don't either."

Jongdae nodded with a murmured "thank you" and when Jonghyun went away, holding Kibum's hand, he flew back to Minseok's shoulder with a relieved sigh.

It was a little later, as he laid his head on Kibum's lap, both of them relaxing on a thick, mellow carpet under the window ceiling of his bedroom, that Jonghyun found solace to his own agitated thoughts, worries, and fears, after making sure to ease everyone else's.

He could feel his breathing deepen as Kibum ran his fingers through his hair, gazing down at his face with shining eyes and a soft smile, murmuring him silent words of comfort.

Kibum could see strange colors playing around Jonghyun's head that kept bringing back a frown between his eyebrows and struggled against the nymph's wish to comfort his prince. As he pressed his index on the worried wrinkles on his face, Kibum remembered Taemin's words from that afternoon, the ones he had addressed to Jongdae.

"What is troubling you, Jeongyun?"

Jonghyun blinked away from staring at the moon and drew his neck back to glance at the nymph with a hum.

"I see you are sad."

Jonghyun relaxed against him and quietly brought Kibum's hand to his mouth to kiss his palm.

"It will pass," Jonghyun said. "I'll be alright."

Kibum looked at him silently for a while, a pout slowly forming on his lips. But he only sighed and combed Jonghyun's hair again.

"You feel many things," he said softly. "And sometimes, it is difficult for Jeongyun to know if the feeling is your feeling or..."

Kibum trailed off and bit his lips. His thoughts were just a little too complex for his current knowledge of Elvish and it was very frustrating. But when he saw Jonghyun looking at him with wide eyes, almost breathlessly waiting for him to continue, he decided to try his best.

"Sometimes," he repeated, "you love too much. And... care. You think... Taemin's feeling is your feeling. Because it is very strong in Jeongyun's heart. With Taemin and other friends too. I think it is difficult. I see it."

You feel his pain as your own, was what Kibum wish he knew how to say. Your imagination of the pain it would cause you if you were in his situation and if it all turned bad is so frightening you cannot see past it.

He hoped that one day, with Minho's, or maybe Yixing's help, he could help Jonghyun understand his gift of empathy and how deeply it was rooted inside of him, how it influenced his thoughts, his actions, his relationships with others. It seemed that, ironically, Jonghyun often confused his extreme empathy with self-centeredness.

Jonghyun sat up slowly to look at the nymph.

"I just want to protect him."

"And I want to protect you," Kibum whispered as he pressed his hand against Jonghyun's face. "I will help."

Jonghyun rested his cheek against his warm palm and closed his eyelids to prevent the few tears that had gathered from escaping his eyes.

"You feel too much," Kibum murmured between soft kisses against Jonghyun's cheek. "But it is alright. It is beautiful. And I will help."

When Kibum kissed his lips, Jonghyun thanked all the deities in the forest for bringing him to the nymph.

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My lovelies,

I'm very curious if you ever thought about this little solution Jongdae thought of... & if you think it could work!! Let me know what you thought of this chapter in a comment, if you'd like ♥ I always love to hear from you.
I was a little worried about writing this chapter because it's difficult for me to write scenes with multiples characters (you might have noticed - or not - that I usually like having only two or three characters interacting, hehe)... but in the end, it was all so easy to write. It actually... wrote itself. So now, I only hope that it was actually nice & pleasing to read. I hope it brought you some peace, as always.

Please take good care of yourself until next time ♥